Dear Brothers and Sisters: We get easily turned off by other's mistakes and wrongdoings. We can become indifferent to persons in the wrong and stay away from them.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us to help our erring brothers and sisters and lead them to conversion and reform. Let us pray that the Lord may soften our hearts and fill them with patience and love. And may the Holy Spirit dispose the hearts of our erring brethren to our patient urguings and concerned admonitions.
"The Absolute Christian Action to Personal Sins and Faults"
The Church as the unique fellowship of disciple of Jesus was an outstanding concern of the Gospel of Matthew. Though this Gospel was written later than Mark’s, it is now at the beginning of the canon or list of New Testament books simply because it had been the Church’s favorite Gospel for catechism, and for the liturgical proclamation. This is because it is this Gospel, and it is only this Gospel, that uses the Greek word ekklesia to refer to the Body of Christian believers (cf Mt 16:18;18:17).
It is the context of the Church that our Gospel is to be read and understood. In fact, from Mt. 16:5 until our Gospel text for today, Jesus is described as concerned simply with his circle of disciples who were the beginnings of the Church. We note particular that our Gospel is excerpted from Mt. 18:1-35, the fourth of five discourses of Jesus. In this discourse, Jesus preaches on the relationships within the Church.
The Church is not perfect. Jesus says, “If your brother sins…”and with this he candidly admits that the fellowship of his followers is not made up of perfect persons…but of men and women who are sinners journeying to conversion. As in a journey, there are gradations. There are “public sins or scandals” that must be confronted by the Church with the more rigid disciples that involve procedures of severity and excommunication (cf 1 Cor 5:1-5 = case of incest, and of scandalous martial and sexual unions; 1 Tm 5:20 = repetitive and unrepentant assault on the unity of the Church and its leaders). Let us note that our Gospel lesson, however, deals more on “private sins or trespasses” that could be addressed with more personalized processes of correction and exhortation (cf Gal 6:1; Jas 5:19).
Fraternal love is fundamental. Jesus uses the word “brother” several times in referring to the erring person. This term is the common designation of Christians for each other in the primitive Church (cf Acts 9:17; Rom 14:10; Col 1:2). This testifies thatfraternal love forms the normal link among the members of the Church. This brotherhood, or fraternity, is based on the spiritual relationship which Jesus established in this person between the heavenly Father and those who belong to Jesus (Mt 12:48; 28:10). The effort to correct the erring brother, therefore, comes not from an impersonal conscience of one who, since he is a “brother,” represents the concern and care of the Church for the lost and the least.
The threefold approach of fraternal correction is a procedure of mercy. The main agenda of the Church is to reintegrate the one straying away—by his private sins—from the community. Each Christian is a shepered of another, a keeper of his brothers. The correction or gentle reprimand by way of exhortation is inspired by authentic love for the guilty person. The naim of talking with the offending brother in a one-on-one way, or of having to call two or three others to talk with the person, is not to “gang up” on the person. The words of the Gospel are clear: the aim is to gain the brother over…to “win over to faith”…for the person’s spiritual progress, and for the common good of the ecclesial family.
The ultimate challenge: “tell the Church…treat him as a Gentile or a Tax collector.” These words of Jesus are the “crux of interpretation.” Detached from the context, these words may be interpreted to mean cutting off, excommunication, ostracization of the erring person. But read with proper background, these words mean exactly the opposite. The ekklesia is ibunal! The Church is the community of faith formed by all believers, a fraternity rooted on the love of Jesus” (cf vv 19-20). When in the Old Testament, the people of Israel believed that the divine shekinah (Hebrew word for “dwelling”) was among them, so Jesus proclaims that the gathering of the believers is continuing “Emmanuel” (God-with-us). The Church is the called upon to reflect: How did Jesus treat the publican, prostitutes, Gentiles, and tax collectors ?
In his earthly life and ministry, Jesus always reached out to protitutes Gentiles, and tax collectors—person who sinned privately, with sincerity of heart and with honesty of conscience. For them, even as he pointed out thire faults and failings, he had forgiveness, compassion, and exhortation. When all this fail, Jesus let them in the hands of God, his Father who remains to be our Creator and true Shepered (cf Ps 23). This, then, is the Absolute Christian Response!
---(co) Fr. Donie Guzman, SSP
